Rigid track frog



RIGID TRACK lFROG 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 23, 1958 R. G. slMMoNs Erm.

Filed Aug. 5, 1956 Sept. 23, 1958 R. G. SIMMONS E1-AL 2,853,260

RIGID TRACK FROG Filed Aug. 3. 1956 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United StatesPateneilice RIGID VTRACK .FROG

Richard G. Simmons, 1i`ranklin,.Ill.-and` Norman E. Gillespie, Atchison,Kans.

Application August 3, 1956, Serial N0..601,980 v 2,. Claims. (Cl:246-1468) ingnrails, which merge intoI other portionsvthat are` alignedwith the respective track, as is `well known in the art; The

bothtof these `rails yare planedA orcut,diagonallyfofuthe rail head tofornrthe pointof the frog tongue, One ofr the heel railsknown astherside ory shortgpoint, isconyentionthe main or long point, forms thepoint of thev frogs tongue'with the planed end of, thef-sidefor shortpoint rail abutting the side of saidmainor longrpoint1 raih The fourrails are rigidly securedtogethcr to-vform the, heel, tongue, throat,mouth, and,toeofrthefrog. v

failure of the frogwtongueto stand up under `heavy traiic.`

the tongueV are weakenedby beingrplaned: or otherwisel formed into apoint.

The principal object` of our inventionl is tov provide a y rigid.trackfrog including an insert inthe form-cfa rigidunitary body thatreplacesthe tapered portions o f the point piecesthat comprise theVtongue ofthe frog,

Another important object of the invention; is to-provide a rigid trackfrog including a,v tongue made of a rigid unitary body to which the heelrails4 may` betxedand which eliminates the need for planingor otherwisecutting the heel rails to form tapreredends.

A further important object ofA the inventiozntis,k topro. vide a rigidtrack frog including a tongue comprisingv a, rigid unitary body which isreadily.` adapted toiboL made fast to the heel rails and the wing rails.

Still a further important object of the invention. is to` provide arigid bolted track frog including a rigid unitary body that forms thefrog tongue and isillers-` of the frog, in which the elements oftheyfrog, are rigidly bolted to, gether to'unite the frog elements intoanunusually strong, wear-resisting unit.

Other objects, uses and advantages will be obvious or become apparentfrom a considerationA of the` following description and the drawings,

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan View. illustrating a side trackrnerginginto amrnain tralgL WithfQUI invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a plan/.view ofthe insert that eomprises the tongue of ourtrack frog, with a filler element shown applied thereto and theiiangesor bases andj webs o f theV frog rails shown in dotted lines; A

. formed by two of the rails, and theother-twozrails, which are known aswing rails, include portions thatroverlapand are on either side of the Vformed by the heel ferm;

heel` forming rails are generally. terrnedfpoint piecesA andi allyshorter than-theother, and thellonger rail,,known-as,`

A well known diiiiculty with frogs of` this type is thel This-is becausethe` portions of the point pieces that, form Figure 3 is -a crosssectionalkview substantiallyalong line A31- 3fof-,Figure2,V with-thefrog rails and thecentralz Figure 7 isa crosssectional view alongline`7--7 otA Figure 2;

Figure 8 is a cross sectional.View` along line 8 8 of Figure 2; andyFigure 9 is a cross sectional viewpalong. line 9.-,-9 of Figure 2.`

Reference numeral 10 of Figure 1 generally indicates a preferredrforrnof our track frog shown in theusual positionastride the mainl track ,12and the side track 14, The heel of the frogisgenerally indicated at 16,the tongue of the frog is generally indicated at 18, the throat of thefrog is generally indicated at 20, the mouth ot the frogis generallyindicated atr22, and the toe of the frogis generally indicated` at 2.4.vThe rails oftthefrog, being conventional in coniiguration, are shown indotted linesinFigures 2 and 6-9.,

Asiswellknown inthe art, track frog 10 generally comprises apair of heelrails o-rpoint pieces 26 anda pair, of wingrailspza. ordinarny, the heelrails 2s are planea or cutdiagonally of the railhead at theirendsextending towardfthe frogthroat Zftto formthefrog tongue. As'ldescribedaboye, oneof the rails 26, known asthevside or short point, isconventionally, shorterw than the other, andthe longer rail, known asIthe mainorlong point, formsthe point of a frogs tongue, with the plariedend ofthe side or. short point rail abuttingthe side of said main orlong `point rail. rl`he main orl long pointrail is aligned. vvith-4theniain track, and hence, frogs made in this way are knownconventionally as right hand or left hand frogs, depeudinglon whetherthe side point piece is ontheright or'left handside asonefacesthe rightoithev frog. The wing railscare bent as att]r to the angle illus,-trated; and theangle portions 320i the. rail 28 overlap the rails 26approximately as shown in Figure l to, form wheel flange guard portions.l In rigid frogs of thef illustrated type, Aall parts are rigid.- lyconnected together. In accordance. with conventional practices, they maybe, connected together by placing fillers orfiller blocks between thepieces of rails and holding them together with bolts passing throughthem andthe websof the ralsor by riveting the anges of the. rails to aplate and fixingthe plate into. position, or by ernployingfclamps. orclampsV and` wedges.

The illustrated frogis ottherigid bolt type, though theinvention isapplicable to other types of frogs. In accordance with our invention,the portions of heel rails 26, thatl are tapered to formY a'tonguel 18of the frogare eliminated, andthe rigid insert body 34 is ein` ployed orsubstitutedfor these tapered portions of rails 26. Y

The rigid body 3 4 is generally of inverted pan shape and, comprises atongue in the form of a roof or top 36 (see Figures 2 6, and 9),depending straightsided side walls 3,8, aV longitudinally extendingdepending central support web or Vilange 40, and transversely extendingwebs or flanges 42 that interconnect the flange 40 and wall 3 8 asindicated in dotted lines in Figure 2. Ribs or webs 43 (see Figure 9)may be employed inside the body 3 4 for strengthening purposes. The body34 has a generally wedged shaped conguration, andj the frog hfl1end0tthsbody. terminates@ a pair of Quiw'ardir extending projections or arms 4 4that are respectively Patented Sept. 23, 1958 parallel to the convergingsides of the body 34. As shown in Figure 3, the arms 44 are formed withlongitudinallyextending recesses 46 separated by webs V48. l As seen inFigures 6-9, the side walls 38 and arms 44 are formed to conform tothe'internally recessed portion or web pocket defined by the heads S0,Webs 52, and bases or iianges 54 of the frog rails 26 and 28. The topsurfaces of the side walls 38 of body 34 merge into generally concavegrooves '5 in the top of the body 34 that define flangeways 56 thatreceive the flanges of railroad car wheels. The arms or legs 44 are alsoformed with curved grooves 58 that likewise form ilangeways for the samepurposel The relatively flat top of roof 36 forms a tread surface 60,which terminates at 59 to form the point of tongue. The angeways mergeat this point; it will be noted that the body 34- extends to the pointof frog indicated on the drawings at 61.`

As shown in the drawings, the illustrated body 34 including arms or legs44 is formed with a plurality of bolt holes adapted to receiveconventional bolts 62 which, together with nuts 64, rigidly bind therails 26, 28, and body 34 together. In the embodiment illustrated, thebody 34 is formed about its bolt holes with enlargements 63 which arethe po-rtions that contact rails 26 and 28, respectively.

lIn accordance with our invention, the shortened and squared off ends ofrail 26 are received between arms 44, they being positioned so that theheads 50 of the two rails will abut each other adjacent the base 65 ofbody 34. It will be necessary to shear the bases 54 of these railssomewhat, as shown at 64 in Figures 7 and 8. We prefer to interpose aliller body 70 (see Figure 4) between the portions of rails 26 that arereceived between the arms 44. VAs shown in Figure 7, the filler 70generally comprises an elongate element having a generally I shapedconfiguration with a ridge 72 extending from the top of the 1, whichridge 72 is formed with an upwardly inclined surface 74 that merges intoa substantially level surface 76 in the direction of the frog tongue.The web 78 of element 70 is formed with appropriate bolt holes toreceive the bolts 62 employed at this end of the device.

Figure 5 illustrates another form of ller 80 comprising an elongateelement having a generally H-shaped configuration in which the sides ofthe element are shaped to conform to the generally concave sides ofrails 26. Element 8i) is also appropriately formed with bolt holes toreceive the necessary bolts 62 and in use is employed where body 70 isshown in Figures 2, 7 and 8.

In assembling frog 10, the rails 26 and 28 are positioned with respectto each other in the usual manner though, of course, the taperedportions of rail 26 are eliminated. The shortened ends of rail 26 with afiller 70 or 80 positioned therebetween are received between the arms orprojections 44 of the body 34, and the body 34 is positioned between theangled portions 32 of wing rails 23 approximately as shown in Figure 2.The rails 26 and 28 are appropriately formed with bolt holes to receivebolts 62, and with nuts 64 applied as shown in the drawings, and drawntight, the body 34, rail 28, the fillers 70 or 80, and the rail 26 arerigidly secured together to form a rigid unit. This unit may be laid inoperating position in any conventional manner.

Our invention has a number of important advantages. For instance, nodeformation of the heads of the rails making up our track frog isrequired; this is very important as the railroad car wheels beardirectly on the rail heads and it is desirable to have as large abearing arca as possible. In our invention, this bearing surface is notreduced or cut down by deformation of the rail head.

The insert body 34 is a one piece element, and is not made up ofseparate elements that are rigidly united. The body 34 being a one pieceelement, is inherently much stronger than any two or more piecestructure 4 could be even though the pieces of such multi-piecestructure are rigidly secured together. The cast insert body 34 of theillustrated embodiment takes the place of the tongue and channel fillingor filler bars usually employed in rigid bolted frogs.

lt will be noted that the apex of body 34 is in contact with both of therails 28 adjacent the throat of the frog, which, together with the longline of contact of the body 34 with theA portions 32 of rails 28, insurethat if the wing rails are depressed at all under a load they aredepressed together.

The central flange 40 of body 34 and the transverse anges or webs 42greatly strengthen the body 34 and eliminate the necessity of making thebody 34 solid with consequent savings of material.

'ille rails 26 and 2S may be standard track rails, and the body 34preferably comprises a cast alloy steel element. rIhe llers 70 and 80may be rolled or cast steel bodies. And, as already indicated, the mainportion of the body 34 preferably is of sufcient length to extendbetween the ends of rails 26 and the point of frog, or the theoreticalpoint.

Our track frog provides an extremely strong unit which is particularlyadapted for yard service, where heavy switching occurs twenty-four hoursa day. Tests have shown that frogs made in accordance with our inventionhave stood up several times longer than conventional frogs.

The foregoing description and the drawings are given merely to explainand illustrate our invention, and the invention is not to be limitedthereto, except insofar as the appended claims are so limited sincethose skilled in the art who have our disclosure before them will beable to make modications and variations therein without departing fromthe scope of the invention.

We claim:

l. An insert, for combination with a track frog arrangement thatconventionally denes a point and a heel, said arrangement including apair of generally lengthwise extending heel rails converging toward thepoint of said frog and terminating adjacent the heel of said frog insubstantially transverse end faces having full width head sections, anda pair of Wing rails extending generally oppositely of said heel railsand having intermediate length portions converging toward said frogpoint and having end portions thereof extending beyond said frog pointand diverging to extend in generally parallel anking relation with saidpair of heel rails, each wing rail having a head and a angeinterconnected by a vertical web to define lengthwise extending webpockets; said insert comprising a rigid, generally wedge-shaped body ofinverted pan construction having an upraised lengthwise extendingcentral frog tongue providing a tread surface at substantially the sameelevation as that of the heel rails, said tongue having a heel end and apointed toe end, said insert including a lengthwise extending internalreinforcing web supporting said tongue, said insert including lillerwebs disposed adjacent and beneath the upper extremity of said tongueand each terminating transversely in a straight-sided depending walladapted for reception in the web pocket of the end portion of one ofsaid wing rails for spacing the same uniformly from said tongue to denea tlangeway bordered on one side by said tongue and on the other side byat least a part of said last-mentioned end portion, said filler websbeing in merging anking relation to said tongue, said tongue terminatingat the heel end thereof in a vertical abutment surface adapted for ushabutting engagement with the end faces of said heel rails, and saidinsert including integral extensions of said filler webs and saiddepending walls at the heel end of said tongue, each extension alsoincluding a second depending wall integral with the ller web thereof andin parallel spaced relationship to the other depending wall thereof,said extensions extending between and transversely spacing said wing andheel rails to form a ange References Cited in the le of this patentUNITED STATES PATENTS Durvin Dec. 27, 1887 Reinoehl et al. Aug. 18, 1908Rabbe et al. Oct. 6, 1908 Alden Iuly 16, 1912 Leedorn July 19, 1927

